I tend to dislike political discussions on boards like this, but I have been known to contribute to threads that are inconsistent with that dislike. I guess I have more of a guideline than a rule.

I prefer to avoid censorship. In the present case, I read nothing on the thread in question that would make me avoid hiking with the writer, so I see no need to censor. But someone else's mileage may vary, so I sympathize with Steve's situation. I can live with closing down threads for being too much "something" but agree that we then need some guidance on what "something" to avoid.